|
Slaying
of journalist under investigation KARACHI, Pakistan — A Pakistani judge on Monday gave prosecutors two more weeks to build their case against three Islamic militants accused in the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. The judge in the southern city of Karachi ordered top suspect Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and two alleged accomplices jailed until their next court hearing. Over the next two weeks, police will also continue to search for Pearl’s body. In Islamabad, the U.S. ambassador said she would meet with President Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday to discuss Saeed’s possible extradition to the United States. President Bush said Monday that the United States is “interested in dealing with” Saeed, but expressed confidence that Pakistan is doing enough to round up Pearl’s killers. Saeed and two co-defendants — Sheikh Mohammed Adeel, a constable with the police department’s special branch, and Salman Saqib — were brought to a special anti-terrorism court in two armored personnel carriers, their faces covered by white cloth hoods. Dozens of policemen patrolled the corridors and grounds of the courthouse. Once inside, the suspects were taken to a closed hearing in the judge’s chamber. A preliminary indictment had been expected Monday, but the judge delayed it. The charges are expected to include murder following Friday’s disclosure of a gruesome videotape showing the 38-year-old journalist being decapitated. Inside the judge’s chamber, all three suspects said they had been forced to sign blank pieces of paper to be used in falsifying confessions, according to defense attorney Khawaja Naveed. Saeed, the British-born Islamic militant who police say masterminded Pearl’s Jan. 23 abduction in Karachi, stunned a courtroom on Feb. 14 when he confessed to the kidnapping and announced that as far as he knew, Pearl was dead. Court officials said that confession would not be enough to convict Saeed because it was not made under oath. On Monday, Naveed said Saeed did not want to give a sworn confession. Pakistani officials say at least four key suspects are at large. The main target of a nationwide police manhunt is Amjad Faruqi, who police believe carried out the kidnapping. If police hope to recover Pearl’s body, one investigator said Monday, they must first find Faruqi. The question of whether Saeed could be extradited to the United States emerged Sunday when Newsweek magazine reported that a U.S. federal grand jury had secretly indicted him for his role in the 1994 kidnapping of four Western tourists in India, including one American. The United States and Pakistan do not have an extradition treaty. The U.S. government wanted Saeed extradited from Pakistan at least two months before he was implicated in Pearl’s slaying, Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin said Monday. Saeed “is a nasty character,” Chamberlin said on CBS’ “The Early Show.” “He’s been involved as a suspect in kidnappings and crimes against American citizens for many years.” Chamberlin said she will raise the extradition issue anew during her meeting Tuesday with Musharraf. The videotape that confirmed Pearl’s death was delivered to U.S. officials in Karachi on Thursday by someone described as a Pakistani journalist. According to investigators who have seen it, the tape shows Pearl being forced to say he is Jewish and then having his neck cut while he is unconscious or already dead. The only face shown in the video is Pearl’s. Quereshi, the chief prosecutor, told AP late Monday that the images of the hands mutilating Pearl could be used by the prosecution as evidence, and that it is possible the hands are Saeed's. |
|
|
TCU Daily Skiff © 2002 |
||